Facility to include new ambulance stations, employment resource centre and cenotaph

By Ryan Lux, The Daily Press

Posted 2 hours ago

Matheson is set to build it's first new public building in years. The new building will be located beside the train station and across from the OPP detachment.
It will be housing a new ambulance station and provide office space for an employment resource centre. In addition, space has been located on the property to build a cenotaph.
Matheson Mayor Mike Milinkovich said he's excited about the impact the development will have on his community.
"It's going to have a significant impact. The location couldn't be more prominent, so I think it will really spruce up the downtown," Milinkovich said.
Construction is expected to cost close to $1 million, but officials say it's necessary.
The Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board's (DSSAB) director of emergency and medical services, Steve Trinier said the town's existing ambulance facility is inadequate.
Ambulances have been kept in a garage at Bingham Memorial Hospital for years, but Trinier said there's not even enough room to remove stretchers.
"It's ridiculously small," Trinier said. "You have to actually pull the ambulance out of the door to get the stretchers out to wash the interior," something drivers have to do following each call.
He said the DSSAB has been replacing ambulance stations throughout the district since the province downloaded the service to municipalities, and now resources have become available for Matheson.
Trinier said the building is scheduled to be finished by March.
The building's close proximity to the downtown and seniors centre, said Trinier, will make accessing social services far easier for Matheson residents who presently have to drive to Timmins or Cochrane.

Milinkovich said the development has been in the works for roughly a year and that he and Trinier considered half a dozen sites before they decided on the downtown location.
He said this location is a win-win situation because it means the new cenotaph will have pride of place in the community.
Building a cenotaph has been a priority for Milinkovich since he was first elected in 2006.
"I felt really, really badly that we didn't have anything in our town," said Milinkovich.
"I was told during World War II, the town of Matheson had the most soldiers enlist per capita."
Now that a location has been identified for one, he said council will be putting the project on ice in order to focus on the town's centennial celebrations coming up next year.
But in the meantime, Milinkovich said he's been snapping photos of all the cenotaphs he sees during his travels to help determine what other communities have built.
Council is also mulling an idea to host a community-wide cenotaph design competition to discover what Matheson residents can come up with.
The cenotaph should be ready for Remembrance Day 2013.